Prairie Oboe in the Big Apple

Top 5 things that I heard in NYC:

1) "Hey! She's pregnant!!!" (Woman yelling at another woman on the subway when she stole the seat I was heading for...by the way, the yelled-at woman ignored her.)

2) "What is that?" "It's a really big clarinet." (In the Met instrument exhibit--bassoon display...followed by,) "No it's an oboe. No wait, it says 'bassoon'...what's the difference between a bassoon and an oboe?" (Enter Dr. Jillian Camwell...)

3) "I'm at the Met. THE MET. I'M IN A MUSEUM. A MUSEUM. A MUSEUM!!" (Woman yelling into her cell phone at the Met. The Met. A museum. A museum. A museum!!! So be quiet then!)

4) "You're so beautiful!" (Friend Mark upon meeting him for lunch...I think he was referring to the whole pregnancy thing. Made me blush.)

5) "Oh great. We're in Queens." (Me to Dave when we missed our subway stop.)

Dave and I love New York. In fact, we only know of one person in the world that doesn't love it--one of Dave's cousins (to remain nameless). Not his cousin Ian though, who was working there for seven weeks. Finishing my degree was a great excuse for us to head over there for a visit. We stayed at Ian's apartment near Grand Central station, and we had a great time. I was dead-tired by the end of the trip though. Degree stresses + 10 airplanes in 8 days + pregnancy + walking 5 or more miles a day = exhaustion.

Day 1--Negotiated our way from Newark Airport to Grand Central via Penn Station and Time's Square...at rush-hour. Hot. Sweaty. Tired. Fun. Ian showed us the staggering views from both his apartment and the roof of his building, then we ventured out and walked to Central Park and Sheep's Meadow. With all our chatting and stopping along the way, I didn't realize it had taken us 35 minutes to get there. On the way back, after walking for 15 minutes, I asked (note: no whiny voice!) how much further we had to walk, and Ian said about 15-20 more minutes. What?! I knew I'd never make it. Taxi it was.

Observation #1: We would be spending a lot of time in Central Park on this trip.
Observation #2: We knew NYC was expensive, and we'd planned on it, but it still struck us how much it actually cost us to eat out at restaurants. The local grocery market was no cheaper. How do you people live in the city?!

Day 2--Memorial Day spent with Ian on his day off. Toured Lincoln Center--highly recommended--although there was a tech rehearsal for the ballet, so we couldn't see inside the Met Theatre. :( Went downtown to see "Bodies--The Exhibition"...wow. If you've never heard of this before, they use real bodies (I'm assuming donated??) to display muscular, intestinal, skeletal, etc. functions. Read about the process here. It's really worth seeing. We even went through the fetus room...we had an option to bypass that exhibit, but it didn't bother me to go in.
Also spent more time in Central Park...every day was a good goal.

Day 3--Ian went to work, poor guy, and Dave and I toured the United Nations building. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was there, surrounded by an entourage of suits and media. Also worth the time. From there we went to...you guessed it, Central Park. We just loved lying on the grass, reading and people-watching.



We met up with Ian for dinner, a trip up to the top of Rockefeller Center for sunset ("Top of the Rock"), and a movie (Spider-Man 3)...a must-do if you're in a new city...go to a movie!



Day 4--Slept in after the late night movie, then Dave and I met up with our friend Mark for lunch in Hell's Kitchen...that's a district, not a restaurant; we went to Vynl. We spent a few hours at the Met (our second Met trip--this time it was the museum) and barely made a dent in the exhibits. This was followed by some much-needed relaxation time in...Central Park. We got back to Ian's apartment and had to choose between 1) heading out to meet him and colleagues at a bar for drinks and 2) staying in and relaxing. Option 2 it was. I heard from my advisor in Oregon via email, did a happy dance, and when Ian got back we went to the Village for a celebration dinner. (Side note: Emily and Robin, do you remember the Indian restaurant we went to on our last trip? Do you remember how I realized I'd left my leather gloves there when we were far away on the subway? I recognized the restaurant when we walked by, and I went inside to ask if they just so happened to keep lost-and-found items for more than 2 years. Wouldn't that have been cool? No such luck.)

To see more pictures of our trip, click here.

Well, that's our trip in a nutshell. I can't wait to go back someday! Oh my gosh, I forgot to take a picture of our one and only New York purchase. To see it, you'll have to click here. Awwwwwww!